A couple of lessons on leadership in Herbert’s Dune:
“Give as few orders as possible,” his father had told him…once…long ago. “Once you’ve given orders on a subject, you must always give orders on that subject.”
Avoid, whenever possible, making decisions for people and teams. It may end up discouraging or preventing them from making any decisions for themselves in the future.
Frequent top-down decisions are the autonomy-killer, they might say. 🤓
Hawat arose, glancing around the room as though seeking support. He turned away, led the procession out of the room. The others moved hurriedly, scraping their chairs on the floor, balling up in little knots of confusion. It ended up in confusion, Paul thought, staring at the backs of the last men to leave. Always before, Staff had ended on an incisive air. This meeting had just seemed to trickle out, worn down by its own inadequacies, and with an argument to top it off.
This is what bad meetings feel like; they deflate like a balloon. Worse than indecision, they bring confusion about how to proceed, where efforts really stand, or if the current approach is the right approach. Not necessarily because of debate or disagreement. But, the lack of consensus or direction certainly doesn’t help.
